MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

BBC's iPlayer app has been updated for the iPhone 5, bringing full 16:9 viewing to the app -- a welcome addition for UK television watchers. The BBC iPlayer for iPhone launched last December, bringing Live TV and Radio along with catch-up TV over Wi-Fi and cellular to the device.One feature still missing is full support for AirPlay, though users can use AirPlay mirroring to send programs to...

The Wall Street Journal reports that turnout for the launch of the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad in China today was fairly low, with Apple's lottery system and two-per-person limits for in-person sales of the iPad mini said to be making it more difficult for scalpers to run their operations. iPad mini on display at Apple's Sanlitun retail store in Beijing The scalpers were still...

After being named the 2011 App of the Year, popular iOS photo editing app Snapseed was acquired by Google when the company purchased Nik Software. Google today dropped the price of Snapseed, making the app free to download. Previously, the iOS version of Snapseed cost $4.99. The update also brings new filters, Google+ integration, and a new icon. From the App Store description: New Retrolux...

The folks at iPhone5mod continue to churn out unofficial Lightning accessories to fill the void left by Apple's slow rollout of official products under its own label and licensed to third-party manufacturers. iPhone5mod's latest offering is a 3-in-1 Lightning Camera Connection Kit, a dongle priced at $23.90 that provides camera support for SD and microSD cards, as well as USB. Apple offers...

Shipping estimates for the iPad mini have fallen to one week in Apple's online stores for the United States and Canada, indicating that Apple is beginning to approach a supply-demand balance for the device that launched just over a month ago. Estimates in the company's online stores for other countries remain at two weeks, but those will likely move to the new one-week estimate fairly soon. ...

Lark today announced that its new Larklife wristband is available for immediate purchase both online and at Apple Retail stores. Like the newly updated Jawbone Up, the Nike+ Fuelband, and the Fitbit, the Larklife is a smart wristband that is designed to track personal fitness, nutrition, productivity, and sleep. Larklife goes beyond tracking your information; it is focused on helping you...

The Iconfactory, the developer of Twitterrific and Flare for Mac, has released a major update of its Twitter client for iOS. Twitterrific 5 debuted the App Store tonight and features a completely redesigned interface, themes and font customization, cross-device synchronization, and more. As in previous versions, Twitterrific offers all of the basic Twitter client functions like timeline...

Rockstar Games has released the iOS port of their blockbuster hit Grand Theft Auto: Vice City tonight. It's essentially the same game you played in 2002 but with touch enhancements. Our sister site TouchArcade has a walkthrough video of the game that shows off some of the gameplay on iOS.On touch devices, you control Tommy with virtual buttons and a roving virtual stick. It isn't the best...

The Boombot REX Ultraportable speaker from Boombotix is an intriguing new Kickstarter project that promises to deliver quality sound in a durable, pocket-sized package. This hexagon-shaped Bluetooth speaker is designed to be worn externally, and as such, it sports a built-in clip and a rugged, water resistant exterior that can even withstand grime and mud. It has high powered dual drivers...

Chinese carriers China Unicom and China Telecom may be receiving the iPhone 5 on December 14, but the nation's largest carrier, China Mobile, has been left out the launch. Though speculation has targeted China Mobile's network exclusive TD-SCDMA technology as the problem, the company's president says that's not the case. As reported by Unwired View, China Mobile President Li Yue today said...

According to Nielsen’s newly released Q2 2012 Cross-Platform Report, second screen television viewing is becoming a widespread trend, with smartphones in more than 50 percent of U.S. homes and tablets in almost 20 percent. The data shows that 85 percent of mobile owners use their tablet or smartphone while watching television at least once a month, while 40 percent do so on a daily basis. 41...

Adding to the selection of Lightning accessories for the iPhone 5 and the latest iPod touch, Philips has announced four new speaker docks with built-in Lightning connectors.There are two docking speakers, a bedroom dock with clock, as well as a music system. They should be available for purchase in time for Christmas.Philips Lifestyle Music System (DCM2067) – an elegant and slim design...

The United Nations has released an app, created by three volunteers, to keep track of the United Nations observances such as World AIDS Day on December 1, or the International Day of Happiness on March 20th.UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference allows users to import observances into the iPhone calendar and includes sharing options for email and social media.The app is the...

Amazon today updated its Kindle for iOS app to version 3.5, adding X-Ray for books. With X-Ray, users can see detailed information on plot ideas, characters, and locations within novels.From the app description:X-Ray for Books - see the "bones of the book." X-Ray helps you learn more about notable characters, places, and phrases with descriptions from Shelfari.com and Wikipedia.X-Ray, which is ...

Loren Brichter, the creator of Letterpress and Tweetie, sat down with GigaOm to talk about developing iOS apps, the App Store, and more.Brichter was a member of Scott Forstall's iPhone team early on, and though he didn't have much to say about Forstall's ouster from Apple, Brichter did have positive things to say about Ive's promotion:"I’m excited about Ive" taking over the Human Interface...

ZeptoLab -- the development house behind Cut the Rope and its offspring -- has showed off its next project, another game called Pudding Monsters. We haven't seen any gameplay but TechCrunch got some hands-on time and has a brief preview:Pudding Monsters is all about getting pieces of pudding to stick together. Unlike the physics-based puzzler Cut the Rope that made players focus on getting...

Google has updated the Gmail for iOS app to version 2, bringing much requested features like multiple account support, autocomplete predictions for searching, an infinite scrolling inbox, and the ability to RSVP to Google Calendar invites from within the app.Six months ago, our team set out to completely rebuild the Gmail app for iPhone and iPad to give you you a faster, sleeker, and easier...

Chitika Insights has released a new six-month study that has found that iOS devices' mobile web share has grown 2% over the past two months while Android devices' mobile web share has decreased 2%. The data spans the six-month timeframe of May 27th, 2012 to November 27th, 2012 and includes devices like the Samsung Galaxy S III, the Kindle Fire HD, the Nexus 7, iPad mini, iPad fourth generation...